Chuck D Is Still Fighting The Power With One Of His Best Verses In Years (Audio)

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Today (April 10) marks the 28th anniversary of Public Enemy releasing its third album, Fear Of A Black Planet. The platinum-certified Def Jam Records LP that housed “Fight The Power,” “Welcome To The Terrordome,” and “911 Is A Joke” contains messages and music that are relevant today.

As Public Enemy continues to release LPs (like 2017’s Nothing Is Quick In The Desert (Except Death)) and tour, Chuck D appears on a new song that delivers a powerful message straight to the people. “I Rap Black” is a proud assertion of Chuck’s identity, style, and purpose. The track also features former Dr. Dre protege and Caltroit MC Bishop Lamont as well as veteran Wake Up Show affiliate Mykill Miers.

Chuck’s verse opens the song. His bars boom from rip, “Man plans, God laughs / Get the autograph / I’m here on the mic with Myke at last / Spittin’ seeds 55 years past / Makin’ sure old sh*t don’t get a pass / I ain’t a N in Paris, ain’t gonna have it / Tryin’ to keep the genocide from bein’ a habit,” he raps, referencing 2015’s P.E. LP title. Then he conjures up Do The Right Thing, the film that featured “Fight The Power” first. “Sal, put the faces back on the wall / Gonna rap Black to the downfall / Tell ’em all, final call, no alcohol / Get your ass in class, kids in the hall / Let me people go, here the beat go.”

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Bishop rhymes next, spitting a strategy about how to promote Black Power through the economy and then venting that he is often profiled. The onetime Aftermath MC uses a stutter in a few places for emphasis. “I ride this melody, elegantly, driving while Black / So the cops always stare at me / So-so-so-some show me love, and some show me hate / So I be like like, ‘Officer, get your Krispy Kreme and get the f*ck up out my face’ / Yeah, I rap Black, like pro-Pro Black / I mean like Yaphet Kotto, Bill Duke, and Kodak Black.” Mykill Miers closes things out with a charged up verse.